Act 1 Summary

The setting for this play is a single room cluttered by junk. The mess includes paint buckets, boxes, vases, a kitchen sink, and a gas stove that doesn't work, with the statue of the Buddha on top of it. A bucket hangs from the ceiling to catch drips when it rains. The room also has two beds. The house is being renovated and is unoccupied except for this room.

Aston, a man in his early thirties, lives here. He brings home an old tramp, Davies, who has been fired from a job he held for only a week. Davies was thrown out, because he refused to do the work required of him. He felt that he wasn't being treated in the way he deserved, which seems to be the story of his life. He never gets the respect he feels he deserves. Aston...